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National Basketball League (1898–1904)
NBL}} The National Basket Ball League was the first professional basketball league in the world. Centered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the league's teams stretched from New York City to Central New Jersey, through the Philadelphia area and down to Wilmington, Delaware. The league began operations with the 1898-1899 season and disbanded in January 1904, prior to completing the 1903-04 season. The league was originally intended to consist of two separate geographic districts, one based in Philadelphia and the other in New York City. The New York district never got off the ground, however. The league makes its debut The league debuted on December 1, 1898, with a game between the Trenton Nationals and the Hancock Athletic Association at Textile Hall in Philadelphia's Kensington section. The Nationals rallied in the second-half to win, 21-19, before 900 fans. The 1898-99 season saw six teams in the league. Three were in Philadelphia—Clover Wheelmen, Germantown Nationals, and Hancock Athletic Association; and three were in New Jersey--Millville Glass Blowers, Camden Electrics, and Trenton Nationals. Two of the Philadelphia teams folded prior to New Year's Eve 1898, but the other four completed the season, with the Trenton Nationals winning the first championship with an 18-2-1 record. The following season was more stable for the new league. The season was divided into two halves. Teams in the first half were Trenton, New York Wanderers, Camden Electrics, Pennsylvania Bicycle Club, Bristol Pile Drivers, and Chester, PA. The New York Wanderers joined, and only one team, out of Chester, Pennsylvania, dropped out, and it was immediately replaced by the Millville team, which had originally elected not to participate that season. Trenton and Millville provided the best teams in the loop, with Trenton gaining a disputed championship, in which the team won both halves of the season. League expands schedule The National Basketball League began the 1900-1901 season with an expanded schedule of 32 games, and seven teams. Of the seven teams, six had participated in league play before, the only new entry, from Burlington NJ, failed to complete the season. The seven teams were the New York Wanderers, Trenton Nationals, Millville Glass Blowers, Bristol Pile Drivers, Camden Skeeters, Pennsylvania Bicycle Club, and Burlington. With five of the seven teams finishing with records of .500 or better, NBL fans saw good competitive play from most teams throughout the season. In his season the Camden team also went by the handle of Camden Skeeters, apparently after what many call the New Jersey state bird, the mosquito! With the split season dropped, no playoffs were necessary, and the New York Wanderers captured the League title by three games. The 1901-1902 season may have been the most successful year of the National Basketball League in terms of stability, with six strong franchises, namely the Bristol, New York, Trenton, Camden, Millville, and Philadelphia teams from the previous year. The schedule expanded once again to 40 games, every game save one was played as scheduled, no teams dropped out, and there was only one really weak team in the league. Camden finally became more than a .500 team, and lost the league crown to the Bristol Pile Drivers by only 3 games, Bristol had a 28-12 record. League in decline The 1902-1903 was the season was again a split season. There were eight first half teams—Camden Electrics, New York Wanderers, Bristol Pile Drivers, Philadelphia Phillies, Trenton Potters, Conshohocken, and Burlington Shoe Pegs. The second half of the season saw only six teams—Camden Electrics, Burlington Shoe Pegs, Wilmington Peaches, Trenton Potters, New York Wanderers, and Conshohocken. Two teams dropped out before the season finished. The Burlington team was doing so poorly that its owner-coach, Frank Reber, fired his entire team, purchased the Bristol franchise and used Bristol's players to represent Burlington. Phillies manager and future member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, Frank Morgenweck, disbanded his Phillies team to purchase the Wilmington team. Camden Electrics, coached by Billy Morgenweck (Frank's brother), cruised to 36 wins against only 9 defeats, a winning percentage of .800. The first half record was 15-2, and the second half record was 21-7. Things did not go very well during the off season in 1903 in the National Basketball League. Only five teams elected to play that year, more importantly, New York, Burlington, and Wilmington, all with experienced owners and coaches, failed to return. The league began the season with only five teams—Camden Electrics, Trenton Potters, Conshohocken, Millville Glass Blowers, and St. Bridget's Biddies. Trenton dropped out on December 26, 1903, and Camden left on December 31. The disbanded on National Basketball League January 4, 1904, not without controversy, and at least one lawsuit followed its demise. Billy Morgenweck was subsequently sued by investors in the Camden Electrics. Champions 1898-1899 Trenton Nationals 1899-1900 Trenton Nationals 1900-1901 New York Wanderers 1901-1902 Bristol Pile Drivers 1902-1903 Camden Electrics 1903-1904 Camden Electrics were in first place when the league disbanded. Bristol Pile Drivers 1899-00 to 1902-03 Burlington 1900-01, 1902-03 Burlington Shoe Pegs 1902-03 Camden 1901-02 Camden Electrics 1898-99 to 1899-00, 1902-03 to 1903-04 Camden Skeeters 1900-01 Chester 1899-00 Clover Wheelmen Bikers 1898-99 Conshohocken 1902-03 Conshohocken Conshos 1903-04 Germantown Nationals 1898-99 to 1903-04 Hancock Athletic Association 1898-99 Millville Glass Blowers 1899-00 to 1901-02, 1903-04 New York Wanderers 1899-00 to 1902-03 Pennsylvania Bicycle Club 1900-01 Philadelphia Clover Wheelmen Bikers 1898-99 Philadelphia Phillies 1901-02 to 1902-03 St. Bridgets Biddies 1903-04 Trenton Nationals 1898-99, 1901-02 Trenton Potters 1902-03 to 1903-04 Trenton Trentons 1899-00 to 1900-01 Wilmington 1902-03 Wilmington Peaches 1902-03 1898-99 NBL W L T Trenton Nationals 18 2 1 Millville Glassblowers 14 6 2 Camden Electrics 7 13 1 Clover Wheelman/Philadelphia Clover Wheelmen*** 5 14 1 Germantown Nationals* 1 4 0 Hancock Athletic Association** 0 6 1 *Germantown played their last game on 29Dec98 and dropped out of the league shortly afterwards. **Hancock failed to show for a game in Camden on 31Dec98. Shortly afterwards a letter dated 28Dec98 was received by the League from Hancock who withdrew from the league. On 07Jan99 a league meeting was held in which the Hancock franchise was officially annulled. ***Since the loss of the Hancock franchise left the city of Philadelphia with just one team, the "Big Five of the Clover Wheelmen" were ordered to rename their team "the Big Five of Philadelphia" for the balance of the season. 1899-00 NBL FIRST HALF W L T SECOND HALF W L T Trenton Nationals 8 0 0 Trenton Nationals 14 4 1 New York Wanderers 3 2 0 Millville Glassblowers** 14 4 1 Camden Electrics 4 4 0 New York Wanderers 13 7 1 Pennsylvania Bicycle Club 4 4 0 Camden Electrics 11 9 0 Bristol Pile Drivers 3 6 0 Bristol Pile Drivers 6 14 1 Chester* 0 6 0 Pennsylvania Bicycle Club 0 20 0 *Chester dropped out during the first half **Millville joined the league on 3Jan00 NBL PLAYOFF - 2nd half 28Apr00 at Bristol - Millville 18, Trenton 13 (game protested by Trenton since Millville used Hilly Wallace who was ineligible to play for them - League President Fogel ruled that game was to be replayed) 05May00 at Camden - Trenton 4, Millville 0 forfeit (Millville refused to play game since they wanted to use Wallace) 08May00 at Camden - Trenton 22, Millville 19 NBL CHAMPIONSHIP Trenton wins 2nd half playoff and thus wins both season halves making championship series unnecessary 1900-01 NBL W L PCT. New York Wanderers 23 9 .719 Trenton Nationals 20 12 .625 Millville Glassblowers 18 14 563 Bristol Pile Drivers 17 15 .531 Camden Skeeters 16 16 .500 Pennsylvania Bicycle Club 8 24 .250 Burlington* 0 12 .000 *Burlington dropped out during the season 1901-02 NBL W L PCT. Bristol Pile Drivers 28 12 .700 Camden 25 15 .625 Trenton Nationals 23 17 .575 Millville Glassblowers 21 19 .525 New York Wanderers 18 21 .461 Philadelphia Phillies 4 35 .103 1902-03 NBL FIRST HALF W L PCT. SECOND HALF W L PCT. Camden Electrics 15 2 .882 Camden Electrics 21 7 .750 New York Wanderers 11 2 .846 Burlington Shoe Pegs 16 11 .593 Bristol Pile Drivers** 12 5 .706 Wilmington Peaches 14 12 .538 Philadelphia Phillies* 10 7 .588 Trenton Potters 14 15 .483 Trenton Potters 6 9 .400 New York Wanderers 11 14 .440 Conshohocken 4 11 .267 Conshohocken 4 21 .160 Burlington Shoe Pegs** 2 12 .143 Wilmington* 2 14 .125 *21Dec02 Philadelphia resigns from league Phillies Manager Frank Morgenweck purchases the Wilmington franchise from Charles Kraus. **30Dec02 Burlington resigns from league. Burlington Manager Reber purchase the Bristol franchise and has the former Bristol team represent Burlington. NBL CHAMPIONSHIP As Camden won both halves of the season they were awarded the NBL pennant and cup without the necessity of any playoff games. 1903-04 NBL W L PCT. Camden Electrics** 10 4 .714 Conshohocken Conshos 8 4 .667 Trenton Potters* 8 5 .615 Millville Glass Blowers 6 9 .400 St. Bridget's Biddies 2 12 .143 *Trenton resigned from league on 26Dec03 **Camden resigned from league on 31Dec03 League disbanded Jan04 See also * National Basketball League (United States) 1937–49 (defunct) * NBL External links * APBR list of teams and standings Category:Defunct basketball leagues in the United States Category:1898 establishments in the United States Category:1904 disestablishments in the United States